Alice's Review: All My Restless Life to Live

Summary:  All My Restless Life to Live Life is a soap opera, especially for Elle Miller, who writes for one. (Ellen dropped the "n" in her name in hopes of finding a better ending for herself.) When her laptop crashes, she borrows her recently deceased dad's computer and gets way more than she bargained for.  Elle unravels mysterious communications from his computer, while her mom decides to give Internet dating a try. As Elle tries to save her career at I'd Rather Be Loved with a storyline featuring a trip through Atlantis, she takes a trip to the Emmys, and finds herself in the middle of a romance between a real doctor and a hunk who just plays one on TV. Friends, family, and clues from "the other side" all help Elle figure out the difference between living the good life and living a good life. ~amazon.com  

Review:  One of the funniest authors I have ever read is Dee DeTarsio.  She has the uncanny ability to infuse her novels with such lightness and humor that even subjects as mourning the loss of a parent takes an amusing twist.  In All My Reckless Life to Live, Elle Miller is coping with the death of her father when through one mishap after another, he begins communicating with her through his old laptop.  Yes, you read that right.  Now, I’m not much for reading about the paranormal but I enjoyed this novel.  Besides humor, Ms. DeTarsio balances her characters out with heart and soul.  There was a real longing in Elle to accept her father is gone even though she was still holding onto every part of him that she could.

There is a good balance between the supporting characters and Elle.  I especially loved her mom and boss Liam.  Liam is disgustingly hilarious.  He’s the kind of person you want to punch in the nose all the while laughing hysterically on the inside.  The location is perfect too and upped San Diego on my list of places to go.  I also loved the shout out to my beloved Portugal by making Quez, one of Elle’s love interests, from the Azores (a Portuguese island). 

All My Reckless Life to Live is good, but I felt there were a few areas that could have been explored more or were a bit too farfetched.  Then again, one character in this novel is a possessed Mac laptop so there you go.  This novel is a fine summer read:  light and very funny.  

Final Take: 3/5


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